From Straight Lines to Loops: Alkyne Magic in Heterocycle Synthesis

Alkyne is one of the simplest yet important functional group in organic synthesis. The richness of this entity renders it as an extremely versatile synthon for developing a diverse array of modern strategies for assembly of different heterocycles. This account describes the research efforts of more than a decade on the usage of alkynes as nucleophiles, electrophiles, and radical precursors for the synthesis of diverse set of heterocycles and the utilization in the total synthesis of structurally simple to complex bioactive natural products.